A special election announced late last year to fill the seat vacated by now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill ends on Thursday, April 16.
Poll will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Find your polling place here: https://voter.svrs.nj.gov/polling-place-search
Democratic nominee and former Bernie Sanders national political advisor Analilia Mejia; Republican Joe Hathaway, former Mayor of Randolph; and Independent Alan Bond are facing each other in the election.
Hathaway has positioned himself as a “practical” problem-solver and has painted Mejia as a “radical”, in terms of her support for social programs and her stance on Israel.
“I’ve heard directly from people that maybe would not ever consider voting for [a] Republican, but don’t believe that their nominee’s positions are at all indicative of what they believe,” Hathaway told The Village Green. “And I’ve had people say, ‘Don’t give up on South Orange, don’t give up on Maplewood because we don’t believe that we support our Jewish community, we support law enforcement.’”
Mejia says her campaign is a “big tent” focused on pocket-book issues around housing, groceries and healthcare — as well as the defense of democracy and the fight against political corruption.
She told Village Green, “We are clear that we need to join forces to fight the real problem, and that is rising authoritarianism, a rigged economy, and the corruption that is plain as day emanating from MAGA Trumpism.”
Mejia responded to the accusations of antisemitism, saying, “We are in a moment in which rising antisemitism, just like rising Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, xenophobia, is gripping our nation in part because we have a President who foments and traffics in hate. I say to voters in New Jersey’s 11th, including my Jewish brothers and sisters, that I see them. I see how rising antisemitism is dangerous, and they feel uniquely persecuted [at] this moment, I see it.”
Hathaway and Mejia discussed these issues and others in an April 1 online debate sponsored by New Jersey Globe. Watch here:
Mejia stunned the political establishment with her victory in the crowded special election primary in February, narrowly defeating former NJ-7 Congressman Tom Malinowski. Malinowski focused much of his concession statement on decrying the “dark money” spent by political action committees to influence the race, but has since joined Mejia on the campaign trail. “We are in the greatest crisis for our democracy probably in the history of this country,” said Malinowski in a campaign video with Mejia. “And whatever small differences might divide Democrats as a party, are absolutely insignificant compared to the issues that divide us and all patriotic Americans from Donald Trump.”
In South Orange and Maplewood, Hathaway has garnered the vocal support of one former elected official — former South Orange Village Trustee Michael Goldberg, a registered Independent who says he has never before voted for a Republican.
“The beauty of being a Trustee in South Orange is that our elections are completely nonpartisan which makes sense because local issues like paving roads or supporting public safety were never partisan issues,” wrote Goldberg in his endorsement of Hathaway, “This election is different. We are facing more than routine partisan disagreement. We, especially those of us in the Jewish community and those who support Israel as a Jewish state, are confronting an existential threat in Joe’s opponent. The extremism, divisiveness, and disregard for responsible governance that define that campaign represent a real danger.”
Michael Goldberg and Joe Hathaway, March 16, 2026 in South Orange, NJ.
Meanwhile, Mejia received support in a letter from more than 70 “NJ-11 Jewish voters” — including former Maplewood Deputy Mayor Deborah Engel and former Chair of the Maplewood Community Board on Police Erin Scherzer, stating, “Our support for Analilia is rooted in the core Jewish value of treating each other with dignity, Kavod HaBriyot, because all humans carry divine sparks, B’tzelem Elohim.”
The letter continues, “Jewish ethical tradition moves us to seek justice, Tzedek, with compassion, Rachamim, as our sacred responsibility. It urges us not just to seek peace, but to run after it, Bakesh Shalom V’Rodfehu, while doing acts of loving kindness, G’milut Hasadim, and repairing the world, Tikkun Olam. Additionally, we value caring for the sick, Bikkur Cholim, caring for our own bodies, Sh’mirat HaGuf, and loving our neighbors as ourselves, V’ahavta L’re’acha Kamocha. Analilia Mejia’s past work and future plans reflect our Jewish values.”
Mejia has also been endorsed by Maplewood Mayor Vic De Luca, South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, SOMA Action, and former Maplewood Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe, as well as other local elected officials.
Mejia at a rally in Maplewood on March 14.
“We may have taken different paths to get here, but we are on the same road right now,” De Luca told the audience at a rally for Mejia at Maplewood’s DeHart Community Center on March 14. De Luca had first endorsed former Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis and then Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill in the primary. “I’m excited about her vision, her voice and the votes she will have for our interests, not big business and the powerful,” said De Luca.
Collum said Mejia would serve to correct “policies that enrich the powerful, reward the well connected and leave working families wondering who in Washington DC has their back.”
“We need a fighter to defend democracy and confront bigotry and authoritarianism wherever it appears,” said Collum. “And we need someone who understand that this fight is not theoretical. It’s about every day lives of the people we serve.”
Read more election coverage here.
